A FEW WORDS ABOUT BEE & BUMBLEBEE ORCHIDS
I photographed these two orchids on two separate occasions in slightly different habitats, but I put them together in this post ...
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... mostly because of their common names ... which sound kind of funny together.
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This is the bee orchid (Ophrys apifera) ... and on the following photograph ...
... you can see the bumblebee orchid (Ophrys bombyliflora).
Bee orchids use a deceptive strategy to attract their main pollinators, the solitary Longhorn bees (Eucera longicornis) ... and some other related bee species.
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Ophrys bombyliflora is pollinated by males of the same kind of bees ... but somehow ended up with the "Bumblebee" in its name.
The bee orchid appears on lush, more humid meadows, often among relatively tall grasses ...
... while the bumblebee orchid, smaller and considerably more rare in this area, grows only in a few dry, stony places with short or flat vegetation.
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Both of these orchids produce and excrete substances that very successful mimic the pheromones of the aforementioned female bees, and that, in combination with the shape and color of the flower, attracts the males of those bee species. The orchids are in bloom for a relatively short time in spring, while the bees are born and active throughout the whole summer, so only some early bees are tricked by these flowers in disguise.
And that's it. As always in these posts on HIVE, the photographs are my work.
Wow this is very beautiful and informative friend. The first pic looks like bees sitting on orchid, I guess that's why they got that Name. Thanks for sharing. Loved it 😊🙏
This is informative and educative as well. I love the photographs; the bokeh effect is magnificent
Good work @borjan
Thanks :) Glad you like the post.
No problem great friend @borjan.
I do love to read your work; but I do pay more attention to your photography work — they are amazing
Bees perfectly complement the structure of the flower. In several photos it seems that this is just one beautiful flower.
I wonder what kind of fragrance our hive is emitting and if the bees like it and that's why they come.
It is already blooming very nicely here on hive too!
!ENGAGE 10
:)
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STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:
How beautiful and rare to see perfectly look these kitty orchids
Jima niso polimene na mojen zidu novega pak hiti ocsdu ...kuraja i trdo sprids
Nice photo 💚
Very cool about these orchids.
You’ve Been Upvoted By Hive-113748 ~ The Orchid Lovers Community!
We LOVED your post featuring Orchids and are thrilled that you chose our community to share it in!
Thank you :-)
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Thank you :)
Thank you! 🥰😎
Oh you tricky little Orchid you. haha. Very interesting capability this Orchid has. And the flower parts mimic a bee too.. double trouble.
Thanks for sharing within the Orchid Lover's Community! I appreciate the post and the support. Awesome one as always @borjan
Also I think your Orchid pictured above is smiling at me like this .. 😁
:D The bee orchid looks like a Pokémon or some similar smiling creature!
Am I crazy or do some of these shots look like flowers have faces? Perhaps I am anthropomorphizing...
Posted via neoxian.city | The City of Neoxian
Absolutely. :) I mean, yes you are anthropomorphizing, but that's practically inevitable ... I see them as faces too, the shape and markings on the flowers are perfect for that.
Wow! These are amazing. I take it they're native to Croatia? I think there are some British ntive orchids too, but I've never found any in my area.
Those bee and bumble bee orchids can be found in Mediterranean regions. Here in Croatia, they grow only on the coast and are getting rare as the habitat is changing. Pretty complicate and delicate wild plants. They easily disappear.